The poetics of mourning and faith-based intervention in maladaptive grieving processes in Ethiopia.

The paper is an inquiry into the poetics of mourning and faith-based intervention in maladaptive grieving processes in Ethiopia. The paper discusses the ways that loss is signified and analyzes the meanings of ethnocultural and psychospiritual practices employed to deal with maladaptive grief processes and their psychological and emotional after-effects. Hermeneutics provided the methodological framework and informed the analysis. The thesis of the paper is that the poetics of mourning and faith-based social interventions are interactionally based meaning making processes. The paper indicates the limitations of the study and their implications for further inquiry.

The local communities' perceptions on the social impact of tourism and its implication for sustainable development in Amhara regional state.

Tourism is a current and global industry that has a multidimensional impact on destinations. As an emerging industry, it has an immense contribution to make to the development of the local community if all stakeholders participate in a responsible manner. The social impact of tourism is, among other things, one that needs the attention of scholars. The social impact of tourism is immense and diverse, and it is embedded with other tourism impacts. So, studying it is very essential to managing tourism in a responsible way. To address the stated objective, mixed research approaches were used. The result of the study indicated that tourism has both positive as and negative impacts on tourist destinations. The positive social impact of tourism was expressed in moderate terms and stated in terms of the expansion of hotels, road transportation, air transportation, electricity, internet, banking, and other infrastructures. The negative social impact was expressed in small terms and conveyed in terms of the unequal access to the aforementioned social services, the expansion of prostitution, the persistence of theft and illicit trade in heritage, and the random adoption of the lifestyles and manners of tourists by residents.

Impact of the COVID-19 control measures on rural households' access to social capital for mobilizing resources in Eastern Ethiopia.

Physical distancing and mobility restriction measures are used as central components of the COVID 19 response globally. In Ethiopia, the measures have been implemented against a complex social structure wherein social support practices (in the form of social capital) and daily social interactions are embedded. However, the mechanism of how such measures interact with various social capital practices and shape household access to various types of resources during the pandemic are less understood. This study examined the way the COVID-19 pandemic and protective measures shaped smallholder farmers' access to social capital for mobilizing resources during the pandemic. A total of 176 households were randomly selected for the quantitative survey. In addition, 25 key informant interviews were collected. Results show that prolonged physical distancing and mobility restrictions imposed to control the health impact of the pandemic have disrupted normal patterns of social interactions and resource sharing between households. The imposed measures significantly decreased households' access to food, information, credit/loan, labor, psychological support, and agricultural inputs and extension services. The study strongly suggests that the public health measure imposed for the COVID-19 prevention and control affect the proper functioning of a society's social capital framework, thereby, reducing poor households' ability to deal with socioeconomic crises and uncertainties. This implies that ongoing as well as future responses to the pandemic should adapt and integrate crisis management measures with the local risk-sharing mechanisms such as indigenous mutual support frameworks and processes. Harnessing inclusive social protection programs and building strong rural financial infrastructure and agricultural service delivery can help vulnerable households cope with shocks, improve the effectiveness of pandemic responses and facilitate post-crisis recovery.

Chicken eggs, childhood stunting and environmental hygiene: an ethnographic study from the Campylobacter genomics and environmental enteric dysfunction (CAGED) project in Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Childhood stunting and malnutrition condemn millions of people globally to a life of disadvantage and cognitive and physical impairment. Though increasing egg consumption is often seen as an important solution for low and middle income countries (including Ethiopia), emerging evidence suggests that greater exposure to poultry feces may also inhibit child growth due to the effects of enteric bacteria, especially Campylobacter, on gut health. METHODS: In this rapid ethnographic study, we explored village poultry production, child dietary practices, and environmental hygiene conditions as they relate to Campylobacter risk and intervention in 16 villages in Haramaya Woreda, Eastern Ethiopia. RESULTS: In the study area, we found that women assumed primary responsibility to care for both chickens and children: in feeding, housing, and healthcare. Most chickens were free-range local indigenous breeds, and flock sizes were small and unstable due to epidemics, seasonal trends, reproductive patterns, and lack of food. Generally, eggs were seen as "too luxurious" to be eaten, and were predominantly sold at local markets for scarce cash, despite high malnutrition rates. Local narratives of extreme poverty, social dietary norms, parental fatalism, and lack of "dietary consciousness" (as it was called) were invoked to explain this. We found that homesteads were highly contaminated with human and animal feces. Although community members viewed chicken feces and poultry gastrointestinal contents as particularly noxious in comparison to other animals because of their feeding behaviour, they did not relate them to any particular disease. Shared human-animal housing and childcare practices place children at high risk of exposure to enteric bacteria from animal manure, despite daily routines designed to manage the domestic landscape. CONCLUSIONS: Addressing childhood stunting and malnutrition through egg production in rural landscapes like Haramaya must navigate three distinct health and care regimes: for children, chickens, and home environments. Interventions should be based on a holistic approach to social and economic empowerment, one that considers both women and men and integrates nutrition, health, and community change as its overarching goal.